Here is the tale of my father's watch. When I was little it was simply my dad's watch, the one he wound and wore every day. I knew it was vaguely special because he told me how it had been worn by the NASA astronauts. He passed away when I was 13 and after that it just sat in a box for years. I wore it occasionally and of course as a teenager I did not take care of it the way it deserved. Eventually the cheap aftermarket band on it broke and at some point one of the pushers went missing. It went into a box of mementos and for the next three decades I would take it out now and then and wind it and see that still ran perfectly.

Two years ago I walked past a jeweler with an Omega logo in the window and it occurred to me that I might have it repaired and brought back to life. They told me that Omega did have a service that would restore a vintage watch and I brought it to the local authorized Omega service centre. When it came back they informed me that it was a case reference 2915.3 with a calibre 321 movement. They said that they could do a full restoration but that I would have to authorize an initial estimate of a minimum of $2400 CAD. By chance I had two co-workers who were watch collectors and they suggested that a full Omega restoration may end up destroying its value as a vintage watch.

I started researching the issue and thankfully found William Roberts' Speedmaster101.com site. I emailed William for advice and received a reply that literally had the subject line in all caps "DO NOT SEND YOUR WATCH TO OMEGA". He said that they would do such a thorough restoration that it would essentially come back looking like a brand new watch and would lose its value as a vintage watch. I decided to follow his advice and sent the watch to a watch maker he has worked with for what they term a "sympathetic service".

Simon Freese in the UK was fantastic to work with after some initial difficulty communicating due to over aggressive spam filters on my end. I recently received the watch back in perfect, beautiful condition. The only significant cosmetic change aside from the missing pusher being replaced is that the heavily scratched crystal was polished to beautiful clarity. I cannot recommend Simon enough. Though my daily wear while working as an industrial electrician is a Casio G-Shock it is nice to have my father's watch back in a condition it deserves and he would appreciate.
I thought the forum might like to see some before and after pictures and apologize for the wall of text.

 

Oh man I was getting super nervous at the beginning of your story.
Glad you found the "right" way to go!
Great strap choice as well. You have a super nice watch there as well as a nice memento.

 

A most excellent first post, welcome to the forum!

What a marvelous decision to send it to Simon Freese. @Spacefruit to the rescue (again)!

Cheers and wear in good health!

 

Haha. Me too! I could'nt stop thinking: "Please dont, please dont". Fantastic story.

Where did your father buy the watch?

 

Welcome to the forum. What a wonderful tribute to your father

 

Thank you for the kind (and nearly instantaneous) replies. I feel like all the stars aligned on this adventure, from a work friend advising me to research further, the good fortune at finding William's site and his willingness to offer such good advice, to Simon's great work. Now I just have to get over my terror of wearing such a beautiful and valuable antique on my wrist!

 

Wow - that watch is stunning. Great job on the research to find Simon.

 

He came to Canada from Denmark in the mid-late 50's. He worked in the Yukon and Alaska at geological survey camps for a year or so and the story was that he came back to Vancouver with $25000 in his pocket, an incredible fortune in those days. It is likely it was then that he decided to buy himself a good watch. What I don't know is whether he would have bought it here in Vancouver or after returning to Denmark and meeting my mother. I am thinking my next step is to order an extract from Omega to complete the story.

 

Cracking watch! And well done on doing some research first, and getting put on the right track. So many folks don't bother to do that, and just end up sending it off to Omega...and then ask. It looks perfect to me. Wear in good health, and thank you for sharing your story.

 

Wow. He could have bought a lot of 2915's for that money. Indeed a fortune in the 50's. Please let us know what the extract will show. Anyway, enjoy this rare watch! It's special.

 

I can't thank William enough. As a complete newbie to the world of Omega's I cannot believe my good fortune in stumbling across possibly the best person in the world to ask for advice on this watch, and his willingness to take the time replying.

 

What a cracking story

 

A wonderful story, congratulations

 

This is the dream scenario that we as collectors and lovers of special watches hope for. So glad you did the research and took your time before jumping into a potentially disastrous choice. Sending it to Omega seems so logical, but we have seen the tragedies here.

 

Stunning example. Black Don Base 1000 bezel. Long hour hand. Wide oval “O”. Awesome

 

Good to see the happy ending.

 

Just superb. What a watch and the memories make it even more special.

 

Awesome job! Too many times we hear these stories where it goes the other way around and the owner gets back a reconditioned watch that's worth a quarter of the value of when it was originally sent in...
Good for you for doing the proper research which led to the proper result!

 

Man, I was getting nervous but glad to see a happy ending

 

A great read ! Pleased it went so well for you